Israel/Gaza clashes

The Israeli military killed at least 60 Palestinians and injured more than 2,000 during a protest along the Gaza border fence on May 14, the same day the US opened its new embassy in Jerusalem. That brought up to 100 the total number of Palestinians who had been killed at that location in protests that started seven weeks earlier.

Palestinians were protesting for “the right to return,” a policy wherein Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to their former land in what is now Israel. Israel has denied that this is a right and considers the future status of Palestinian refugees to be a part of peace negotiations.

On May 29, more than 30 mortar shells were fired from Gaza into Israel, injuring at least three people and causing minor damage to structures, including a kindergarten. It was the heaviest attack from Gaza since 2014. In response, Israel conducted air strikes in Gaza, hitting 35 targets associated with the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

After protests continued on June 1, with further Palestinian casualties, two rockets were fired from Gaza, only one of which reached Israel, though it was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. In response, Israeli jets fired missiles at two sites in Gaza.